Yesterday I went to my sister's to make our favourite trio of typical Swedish Christmas Candy. The candies we made were Knäck - Toffee, Kola - Fudge and Ischoklad - Ice Chocolate. Now these Christmas Candies are pretty much obligatory in Swedish households during Christmas, which is why my sister and I both have grown up eating, and making, them around Christmas.

But not only are these candies super tasty and an obvious part of our Christmas celebration here in Sweden, they are also quite simple to make. Which is why I prefer to make them at home instead of to buy them. It is also why I thought I would share how my sister and I made them this year, as well as which recipes we used. So below are photos and recipes of the trio of typical homemade Swedish Christmas candy my sister and I made yesterday. :)

3. Chop the almonds as coarsely as you like it. To make sure the batter is ready; take a teaspoon of the batter and put it in a glass of cold water. Then roll it into a ball. If it feels tough and elastic the batter is finished.

4. Add the butter and the chopped almonds, stir.

5. Dispense the batter into toffee molds and let cool down.

Toffee molds.

To easily peel the sweet almonds before chopping them, boil them a few minutes in water and then cool them down in cold water. After that they are super easy to peel. :)

Mix.

Boil toffee batter uncovered.

Toffee batter getting thicker.

Mix in chopped almonds.

Dispense toffee batter into molds. Warning: as the toffee batter cools down it hardens, so be quick...

Finito. :)

Well, this is a more realistic finito pic. Lol! ;p

Tip: if the toffee batter becomes too hard to dispense, spread it out on baking paper instead. When it has cooled down simply crack it into pieces, it tastes exactly the same. In the photo here Diva (my sister's dog) suggests that she is willing to eat this "failed" toffee piece. Hehe. Naww darling, don't think so. ;)

1. Mix all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir well with a wooden spoon and cook slowly on stove, about 20 minutes. If a thermometer is used, the batter is ready when the temperature is 120 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, to make sure the batter is ready; take a teaspoon of the batter and put it in a glass of cold water. Then roll it into a ball. If it feels tough and elastic the batter is finished.

2. Pour batter into a well-oiled mold or on a baking paper in a mold. Let it cool down.

3. When fudge is set, cut into squares with a knife. Then wrap the fudge in cellophane or waxed paper.

Fudge batter.

Batter ready.

Cool down time.

Yuuummy!! The fudge is my favourite of the three candies we made.

Ice Chocolate - Ischoklad

Before the recipe and photos here I want to give a short explanation of the name Ice Chocolate - Ischoklad. A name that actually has nothing to do with ice. Instead it alludes to the fact that the ice chocolate melts easily because of the content of coconut fat. Which in turn cause heat energy to be taken from the mouth whereupon a cooling sensation can occur. And I must say that eating ice chocolate does sort of feel like eating a piece of chocolate flavoured ice, which is a positive feeling. :)

Recipe for 25-30 pieces.

100 grams of coconut fat
200 grams of dark chocolate

1. Break chocolate into blocks and put them together with coconut fat in a bowl. Set the bowl in a saucepan with boiling water. Stir and let melt into a smooth batter.

2. Fill small aluminum molds with chocolate batter and put into fridge for about an hour.

Pretty ice chocolate molds.

Mix.

Melt.

Pour into molds.

Try to not spill.

Done! :p

After all this Christmas Candy making, guess who is ready for Christmas now!? Yupp, I am. :p Not sure how much of this candy will be left on Christmas Eve though... whops. Lol! But I will do my best to try to restrain myself from eating it all, but the fudge will be very hard to resist. Oh well, like I said in the beginning - these candies are not that hard to make. So if I should happen to eat them all, I'll just go ahead and make some more! ;p